Fiat Chrysler shares sink a day after CEO pep talk

Investors weren’t sounding too thrilled Wednesday with the five-year plan laid out by Fiat and Chrysler Group, which will go under the name Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, or FCA. Fiat shares were trading around $7.48, down 11.7%, at midday.

First-quarter earnings laid out as part of the marathon session in Auburn Hills, Mich., on Tuesday didn’t help. FCA, reporting from Fiat’s home base in Italy, said it had a net loss of $445 million, up from a $115.4-million loss in the same quarter a year ago. The big drop was largely due to a charge linked to a contribution to the United Auto Workers retirement trust in return for its Chrysler shares, so Fiat could take complete ownership of the U.S. company.

CEO Sergio Marchionne went through each Chrysler division Tuesday, laying out how he plans to create more distinction between the brands. Dodge, for instance, will be about performance vehicles. Chrysler will showcase cars and will have the only minivan. Ram is thinking about making a pickup with an aluminum body like the next Ford F-150.